The Trump administration eased sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run financial system on Tuesday in a move aimed at supporting the country’s battered economy, reviving oil-sector activity, and stabilizing the government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez.  

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued general licenses permitting transactions with Venezuela’s central bank and several other state-controlled lenders. The move allows Venezuela’s government-run financial institutions to legally use U.S. currency, directly receive billions of dollars in oil-sale proceeds, and reenter the U.S.-controlled global financial system, according to Axios. 

The relief also permits transactions with international banks after a seven-year ban and covers U.S.-dollar-denominated banking, payments, and correspondent account services. OFAC’s license says authorized “financial services” include loans, deposits, ACH and wire transfers, payment cards, digital wallets, currency exchange, remittances, salary and pension payments, investments, securities and commodity futures or options. 

The easing comes as public-sector workers in Caracas have protested low wages and as U.S. sanctions red tape delayed the disbursement of billions of dollars to Banco Central de Venezuela and slowed development deals, Axios said. Those bottlenecks also delayed payments to local oil companies and undercut President Donald Trump’s plan to quickly raise crude production, Bloomberg reported. 

Rather than lifting all sanctions, OFAC issued targeted relief for Banco Central de Venezuela, Banco de Venezuela, Banco Digital de los Trabajadores, and Banco del Tesoro, along with certain related entities. The office issued a separate general license authorizing negotiations of contingent commercial contracts with the Venezuelan government, though any entry into or performance of those contracts still requires separate authorization. 

Rodriguez told a U.S. delegation later Tuesday that a license does not provide long-term legal certainty for companies because it is temporary and called for sanctions to be lifted entirely to allow investment to develop fully, Bloomberg said. 

In a post on the social-media site X, the Treasury Department separately stated that it was “maintaining maximum pressure on Iran.”

“Financial institutions should be on notice that the department is leveraging the full range of available tools and authorities and is prepared to deploy secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that continue to support Iran’s activities,” the department wrote. “The short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil already stranded at sea is set to expire in a few days and will not be renewed.”

Read more at Axios

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